By IANS
Kolkata : Concerned over the growing alienation of Muslims from his Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Sunday said the Sachar Committee report did not represent the real situation of the minority community in his state.
“We are aware of the condition of the Muslims. Our eyes were always open, irrespective of the Sachar Committee report,” Bhattacharjee said at a rally in Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground on the eve of the party’s state convention beginning Monday.
“The chairman of the committee had come to meet us. I had asked him if they have data of what percentage of the total 1,65,000 acres land in West Bengal is owned by the Muslims. He could not answer. He had no knowledge of the number and percentage of Muslims working in police or how many nurses in the state are Muslims,” Bhattacharya said, virtually nullifying the findings of the report.
The high-level committee was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh under the chairmanship of Justice Rajindar Sachar, retired chief justice of the Delhi High Court, to study the ‘Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India’.
The most glaring cases of Muslims’ deprivation in government jobs were found in West Bengal and Kerala, two Communist-ruled states.
In West Bengal where Muslims comprise almost 25 percent of the population, their share in government jobs is a paltry 4.2 percent, according to the Sachar Committee report.
The mysterious death of Muslim youth Rizwanur Rahman allegedly after police harassment and the role of Muslims in the Nandigram movement have caught the CPI-M on the wrong foot.
From virtually banishing Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen from Kolkata to explaining their policies, the CPI-M is looking for an image makeover to woo the Muslims back to its fold.